On December 4, 2021, a new Director General of the organization was approved at the General Meeting of RUSADA Founders. It became Veronika Loginova, Advisor to the Rector of the Russian International Olympic University on the development of anti-doping programs.
Veronika Loginova is an independent UNESCO expert appointed to work with the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to the International Convention against Doping in Sport and the Committee for the Approval of Projects Submitted to the Fund for the Elimination of Doping in sports. Previously, she was a member of a group of experts appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency to implement WADA Outreach educational program during the Sochi Olympic Games. She took part in the activities of the Special European Committee on interaction with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the special commissions of the Monitoring Group of the Council of Europe on science, education and legal issues.
“The procedure for the election of the Director General took place under the strict supervision of WADA. Not a single claim was made. The selection of the finalists was carried out by the updated Supervisory Board of the organization. Changes in its composition were also a requirement of WADA and took place on a competitive basis. In total, about five hundred applications were submitted. The candidates were assessed for strict compliance with the requirements, including the absence of conflicts of interest. The founders conducted personal interviews with those who passed the preliminary selection. In total, over 40 candidates were interviewed. WADA was informed in detail about all the steps taken by the founders to form the Supervisory Board; some candidates were previously agreed with them. WADA expressed satisfaction with such an open and transparent election process,” said Vladimir Gruzdev.
He emphasized that thanks to this it became possible to conduct and successfully complete the open competition for the post of Director General of RUSADA, which was also an important milestone in the restoration of RUSADA's status and was closely monitored by WADA.
“Renewing the composition of RUSADA's governing bodies was a key task of the two Founders of the organization: the Association of Lawyers of Russia and the International Center for Health Protection. This is an extremely important step and stage for the return of the Russian flag and anthem to the competition, as well as for lifting the ban on holding major international competitions on the territory of the Russian Federation. WADA is informed of the progress of the changes and welcomes the format for their implementation. We hope that the operational activities of the renewed RUSADA will allow us to fulfill the state task, strengthen the authority of our country in the international arena and return our flag, anthem, sports uniform with Russian symbols in December 2022, " summed up Vladimir Gruzdev.